Capitol School to revive athletic program

From back left, Monica Rodgers, Mitchelle Copeland, 14, Jonathan Williamson, 12, Josh Fording, 11, Sophie Thomas, 12, Gigi Eyre, (front row) Sophia Nasrat, 13, and Ariana Evans-Young, 13, are some of the coaches and students who will participate in the newly revised athletic program at the Capitol School.

Michelle Lepianka Carter

By Andrew CarrollSports Writer

Published: Monday, May 27, 2013 at 3:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 10:42 p.m.

TUSCALOOSA | Barbara Rountree doesn’t plan on ordering rings to commemorate AHSAA championships during the 2013-14 school year, but the uniforms she requested are on the way.

Rountree is the director of the Capitol School, which is reviving its athletic program.

Created in 1993 as a charter school, the Capitol School will rejoin the AHSAA and offer six sports for girls and five for boys. The colors will be black and gold, and the teams will be known as the Owls.

Rountree has to work out a number of logistical problems, such as scheduling and locating practice sites, but the school is making its move now because of the interest among students and parents.

“Our Capitol School was founded on the curriculum of multiple intelligences, and one of those intelligences is bodily kinesthetics,” Rountree said. “We’ve always had clubs and instruction, so every day since the kids were 5 they’ve been going to swimming one day, gymnastics one day, tennis one day, volleyball, basketball. So they’ve had instruction in all of these sports, but they’ve been as a club. Now, for the first time since about 2006, we’re rejoining the Alabama High School Athletic Association, but the challenge is whereas before we just had three or four teams, now to rejoin we’re under the new rules and we have to field 10 teams, at least five girls teams and five boys teams.

“Is this an undertaking to go from zero to 10 in just a few months? We’ve been planning for more than a year, but still we’ve got to be ready to rejoin in July and start playing the season Aug. 29.”

Sports for boys and girls include swimming, cross country, soccer, tennis and golf, and girls will have the opportunity to play volleyball.

Rountree said she expects the older students who compete to set a positive example for the younger students. The student range is from pre-kindergarten through high school.

“They have role models academically,” Rountree said. “They see the older kids going to take college courses in our dual enrollment/dual credit program. They see the academic achievements, but I think this gives them a chance to see the kids competing.

“We’ve already talked about the year. We’re not going to be like the University of Alabama and be a national champion. We’re going to be learning, and we’re not going to win any games maybe this first year, so we’ve got to play for the joy of playing and to have good sportsmanship and to learn the rules and to be a good competitor. Gosh, if we were to win a game, won’t we be excited?”

Rountree said the goal is to learn from each experience.

“I think that is so important, and we’ve always tried to do that as part of our curriculum,” she said. “Now, for the first time in these children’s school lives, we’ll be competing again. I think it’s going to be a challenge, but I certainly hope all of this effort is going to be worth it because I think it’s going to give these kids new experiences and new memories and, hopefully, new achievements because these are skills they can use the rest of their lives.”

“I think it’s actually a great honor to be part of the reviving teams at Capitol because for so many years we haven’t had sports teams,” Thomas said. “We know we probably won’t be a state champion next year because we’re just starting, but we’re going to do our best.

“I’m actually a very competitive person. What I intend to get out of it is just being part of a team, just having the ability to work with so many people that I go to school with on a regular basis and to do that with sportsmanship and in a competitive way. I think it’s a nice way to get to know each other more.”

Josh Fording, 11, plans to be involved in swimming, tennis and golf.

“Everybody’s been wanting sports programs for so long,” Fording said. “To be part of the starting team is really something incredible, I think, and it’s a great honor.

“I think just being involved in competition is really good. I’m going to try to improve my group-working skills and have lots of fun. That’s the most important thing.

“I think it would really raise school spirit. It’s going to bring everyone closer together so they’ll know each other better and just be better people and better friends.”

Each team will have a faculty advisor coach and a skills coach. Rountree has committed to head the swimming program with Shane Reeves as the skills coach.

“We have seen a need for this for several years now,” Rodgers said. “We started club teams and had such an interest and participation that the students just kept saying, ‘We want to compete with other schools.’

“We have some really good athletes. We have some that have a long way to go, but with that said we want everybody to participate. We want it to be good, friendly competition. We want them to train and get in shape, and that has a lot to do with it too. We’re very interested in building our teams and having our teams grow in number and grow in skill.”

Rodgers said school officials have worked with representatives of the Tuscaloosa United Soccer League and Park and Recreation Authority to develop the soccer program. The school is located next to Capitol Park, which is a PARA park, and Rogers said the soccer teams have access to fields at Sokol Park and at the Bobby Miller Activity Center.

“All of us that have been on a team before, we understand that team camaraderie,” Rodgers said. “Our students are so excited to have a team. We are going to play. We are going to have a good time, and we are building our program.

“They’ll forever be remembered as these were the particular students who said, ‘We don’t care if we lose every game, we want to play and we want to start a sports program at this school and we’re going to do it.’ That’s their mindset.”

Eyre is a University of Alabama student from Daphne who played volleyball at Bayside Academy.

“I want to give them, first of all, the basic skills of volleyball,” Eyre said. “With any student starting a new sport, it’s difficult and you don’t always succeed at first and that might be tough. I just want to give them a good role model as a coach and as a person and make them love the sport. I think that’s the most important thing.

“It was very important to me. My high school team was very close. We did everything together. I think it gives you something to bond over and something to really share. I know my high school team was like a family.”

Eyre said the plan is to conduct volleyball practices at the YMCA, but she expects the team to play all its matches at other school sites.

“That’ll be a small challenge, getting fans out and everything, but I think it will be good to start with,” Eyre said.

Reach Andrew Carroll at andrew.carroll@tuscaloosanews.com or at 205-722-0223.

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